Gibb River Road and Mitchell Falls (Derby to Kununurra)

Hi all
After leaving Derby, I headed along the Gibb River Road. First stop was Windjana Gorge where I again bumped into Neil and Denise from Tamworth.

Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge

Freshwater Crocodile at Windjana

There has been a few exciting moments on this trip and I will cover them as I get to the relevant sections.

view from camp, Windjana Gorge

After a couple of days at Windjana, I headed through the Napier Range further onto the Gibb.
The Napier Range was once a Limestone Reef and was formed over 350 million years ago.

Gibb River Road through the Napier Range

 The next obstacle was the King Leopold Ranges. Since 1989, my first trip through here, most of the steep and winding passes have been bitumened making life easier but taking away some of the adventure.

through the King Leopold Ranges

 The next detour was Mount Hart, what a disappointment...............for years I have read about Taffy Abbott and his pet Dingo's along with his passion for the area, but a couple of years ago Parks WA decided to put the lease out to tender and he was replaced. The best thing I can say is that it was a nice drive 53km in...............and along with another 3 vehicles............straight back out again. Condescending, uninterested staff and management and a camp ground of itinerants gave the place a certain 'Wolf Creek' feel.
Next it was on to Silent Grove Camp and Bell Gorge, and guess who was there? Yes, Neil and Denise from Tamworth, this makes meeting number 9!

Bell Gorge

Bell Gorge

Bell Gorge

I headed to Charnley River Station next, which has a lovely serene camp ground and abundant wildlife, with Dingo's howling close to camp through the night.

Charnley River camp

locals at Charnley

Next stop was where I had a bit of Saturday night excitement..................Manning Gorge.

Manning Gorge

Manning Gorge

As normal, in this area, people are all in bed by 8pm and awake at daybreak......and me usually the last to go to bed. I had just retired for the night a little after 10pm when I heard vehicles approaching..............it was the staff from the Mt Barnett Roadhouse. A bushfire has come over the ridge and was heading towards the campground. So at 10.30pm, along with maybe 20 other camps was evacuated to the Roadhouse 11km away. I did feel sorry for the people with camper trailers, having to pack up in the dark and then unpack again 10 minutes later.

Corrella's in a Boab

Mt Barnett Roadhouse the morning after the evacuation

After this excitement I headed off towards my next destination, Drysdale Station.

Gibb River Road

Kalumbaru Road left Gibb to the right

Kalumbaru turnoff

I had been told several times that this dry Season had been the driest in 10 years and judging by the lack of creek crossings from 3 years ago it was correct. After an uneventfull run up to Drysdale Station I Booked in for the 6.30am scenic flight over the Prince Regent Area.

Mt Hann

driven in blue flight in red

Unfortunately after a cool night, 8c and the burnoffs visibility was pretty poor but the spectacular scenery made up for this.

Deep Gorge

Prince Regent Reserve

The Prince Regent area is a large region with no roads, so the only way to see this area is by sea or from the air.

Prince Regent River Headwaters

 The Prince Regent River is unique as it follows a natural Fault line, so as you will be able to see in following photos flows virtually straight for many many kilometres.

Price Regent River

Kings Cascades

This is where 24-year-old American model Ginger Meadows took a fateful dip with a friend on a quiet Sunday in 1987. The girls, stalked and cornered by a crocodile, sought refuge on a ledge at the base of the cascade in waist-deep water as the Crocodile glared.
Meadows' friend threw a shoe at it to ward off an attack but in a moment of fatal panic Meadows leapt into deeper water to try for shore. Meadows was unfortunately taken by the Crocodile.

Kings Cascades

Prince Regent River

We flew along the Prince Regent River and then over Saint George Basin before turning North towards Mt Trafalgar and Mt Waterloo.

Mt Trafalgar with Mt Waterloo behind

We continued to fly North over Prince Frederick Harbour before turning to circle Mitchell Falls.

Prince Frederick Harbour

Mitchell and Big Merton Falls

After a few circuits of Mitchell Falls it was back to Drysdale and pack up and head to King Edward River campground.

Dingo on the way to King Edward

KIng Edward River

King Edward River

Now let me say right here.....................The Mitchell Falls road is a national disgrace! 85 kilometres of relentless corrugations which pound your vehicle with no good bits the whole way.
DPAW (Department of Parks and Wildlife) get your act together..........I don't want a bitumen highway but this road is a joke!
$12 Park entry, $10 per night camping fees and I am told 30% cut from every helicopter flight over the Falls.......................BUY A BLOODY GRADER!!!!!!!!!!!
People spend huge amounts of money traveling here to see these spectacular Waterfalls, they don't need or want the extra expense of vehicle repairs on top of that because of the shit road.
In saying this though, the majority of damage I saw was people with too much air in their tyres and going way too fast.
While you are at it DPAW replace the helicopter company next time the contract is up as I would rate them a generous 1/10 for customer service.

looking over the top of Little Merton Falls

Little Merton Falls

Little Merton Falls

Just let me clarify all the rumours about the walk.................it is not a difficult walk, there are a couple of places where a little rock scrambling is needed but mostly it is easy walking. You need to cross the Mitchell River to get to the viewing area and helicopter so make sure you camera gear is waterproofed, trust me I know I drowned mine here 3 years ago!

above Little Merton

above Big Merton Falls

Big Merton Falls

Big Merton

crossing the Mitchell River (a third of the size than 3 years ago)

With the temperature hovering in the high 30's it was a welcome cooling dip in the river upon arrival.

Mitchell Falls

Mitchell Falls

I stayed at Mitchell for three nights and was totally dumbfounded by what I saw.............the majority of people would rush into the campground late afternoon.....................set up camp.............next morning off on the 2-3 hour walk.................walk back in the heat of the day...............pack up and head back out along the 85 kilometres of crap road! There was no way I was going to drive in one day and leave the next along that road!

Mitchell Falls right Big Merton left

Mitchell and Merton

artsite at Little Merton

Well the time came where I had to drive out that crap road again, something I was not looking forward too.

Bradshaw art site King Edward River

Crossing the King Edward River

After an uneventful run back to Drysdale I arrived to a trail of destruction......................4 camper trailer failures................two ruined tyres...................a steering rack coming loose.................a Mitsubishi Triton with a bent chassis and a badly damaged jayco expander.............the wounded were still arriving at 10pm!!!!!! AND THAT WAS ONLY ONE AFTERNOON

Drysdale River crossing

I will go into a bit more detail in my next blog update, which will be my 2 year review on my Ute and Camper along with some tips, advice and also campsite and dirt road etiquette. This has been bought on by total disregard for anyone else on the road by a majority of road users. 

From Drysdale it was off to Ellenbrae for some famous scones and cream.............
Just short of Ellenbrae I had my first taste of a failure.....................a Universal joint bound up and gave the Centre bearing on the tailshaft a hard time.
The next destination was Home Valley Station by the Pentercost River for a couple of nights.

a friendly local at Bindoola Falls

Bindoola Falls

The weather really hasn't broken yet with a cool day 35c and a hot day 38c.

Cockburn Range and Pentercost River

Cockburn Range

Pentercost River

It was mid week, and a long weekend coming up so I decided to make a slow dash for Kununurra for vehicle repairs, skipping ElQuestro for now.

Pentercost crossing

The parts I need arrive tomorrow, when that is fixed I will head back out to Elquestro, Diggers Rest and Bungle Bungles.
I will try to get my review and tips blog done before then.........as this update has been epic with so much to update after so long with no reception.
Bye for now from a how sweaty Kununurra...............my outside thermometer is currently reading 38.2c